1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to devices designed to prevent removal of shopping carts from the area immediately adjacent to supermarkets. More specifically this invention relates to devices or systems designed to cause braking of the shopping cart if removal of the same from the store or parking lot area is attempted.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many devices have been disclosed in the prior art which basically fall into two general classes. First, there are those devices typified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,356,185 by ISAACKS which teach braking devices which cause engagement of the wheels of a shopping cart in some manner to prevent rotation directly thus providing the braking of the cart. Second, there are those devices typfied by U.S. Pat. No. 3,405,783 by CLARK which teach entrapment of the wheels of said shopping cart such that either the hub of the wheels or a separate fixed braking member engages the surface of the device.
Unfortunately these prior art devices suffer from several inherent defects. In the first type of device described, the wheel construction is usually very complicated and requires rollers, pins and the like and are anything but maintenance free. They not only are quite expensive to construct in the first instance but require continual adjustment and maintenance.
In the second type of device described above, a necessary element of such invention is surface construction having slots or outright holes in the paved surface for entry of the wheels. Since the boundry about the area wherein such shopping carts are used is usually about the store parking lot or the store front itself the particular surface construction is exposed to considerable foot traffic as well as vehicular traffic. Not only does such a surface construction cause annoyance to vehicular passengers but also creates a real danger to pedestrians attempting to cross such devices and the risk of injury to persons attempting to shop at the market is substantially increased. Finally, the very appearance of such devices is fixed such that an offensive construction must permanently remain part of the surface surrounding the market.
All of the above problems have been solved by the instant invention as will be described herein and in accordance therewith it is an object of this invention to provide a braking apparatus for shopping carts which allows a very simple and maintenance free wheel construction.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a braking apparatus which need not be manually reset nor which will be prematurely engaged.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a braking apparatus which eliminates slots, curbes or holes in the surface over which the cart travels thereby eliminating risk of injury.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a braking apparatus which cooperates with a surface area which can be arranged in a plurality of esthetically pleasing configuration.